No, there is no excuse not to go out

Yesterday the weather in Hamburg was pretty cold (under zero degree c.), it was snowing and the roads were covered with ice and snow, there was a fairly strong wind. I went out for a run, around 22k, in the Hamburger Volkspark. Running there is fun, it has some hills, smaller trails, and there are some steeper stairways. The weather and the cold did not bother me, I don’t get cold easily. Today, the temperature was a slightly warmer, the ice was starting to melt, but it was raining. It felt much colder then yesterday, probably because the wind was much stronger. Despite the horror weather I went out and did an hour run in the cold rain. I won’t let hot, cold, rainy, or snowy weather give me an excuse not to go out and run. Weather conditions do influence my training, running in the cold and snow, or in extreme hot weather is definitely harder then on a perfect weather day. But is there a perfect running weather ? I personally like to go out and run when it is colder, or when its chilly and windy. I think that the influence weather conditions have depends on what your goal is. My goal is; go out and run. Run 1, 2, 3 hours, or a set distance and thats is, just go out and run. If the weather makes running harder, then I push more, if its cold I dress warmer and if its hot I drink more and run slower.

But there is no excuse not to go out.

But there is no excuse not to go out. Just do it. It’s as simple as that. If you train with discipline, eat well, recover and repeat this countless of times, then you are on the right path. But it’s not primarily the body that restrict us: The body is important, but the mind, the will power is maybe even more important. It is your mind which makes you go out when the weather is bad, your mind will make your tired legs run those last miles. It’s the mind that pushes your body. It is the mind that helps the body in struggle and to deal with a challenging environment.

Trying hard, and going trough the struggle will make you different. Struggle builds you, strengthens you, makes you realize who you are, what you want, where you want to be – struggle defines you. Every challenge will put me in a better position to master future challenges. Training is about creating an environment that challenges you. When you learn to defeat that person inside you which tries to get you to stop, you can defeat anything. Anything that’s blocking your way toward your true purpose, destination and goal. This rule applies to everything in life. There’s a challenge we have to face. Either we run away or we confront it. The mind is our most powerful tool and if you approach a challenge with the proper mental attitude, you will win.